Cupid's Arrow
by doxiemama
Summary: Tank channels his inner Cupid on a messed up take down involving Stephanie and Ranger.
1. Chapter 1

Stephanie twirled around in her computer chair, randomly catching her toe on the ground to stop, then pushed off to spin the other way. Leaning her head back, she called out in a sing-song voice "Are you ready yet? I'm not getting any younger in here wait-ting!"

The bumps and thuds from the bedroom were her only reply. Closing her eyes and sighing, Steph stopped her spins and leaned forward to try and see what was taking so long in the next room. "Is there a problem? Do I need to come in and supervise?"

A couple of muffled curses were followed with a resounding "NO!"

Covering her mouth with her hands to stifle her laughter, Steph quietly got up with her cell phone in hand and tiptoed towards the bedroom door. Just outside, she brought up the camera and was ready for action. She quickly moved into the door frame and snagged some rapid fire camera shots.

" _Babe!_ " and " _Jeez, Steph_!" came echoing loudly out of the bedroom, as Stephanie collapsed into a heap of giggles while holding her side.

Steph couldn't leave well enough alone. "Aw, come on, guys. Surely two big bad-assed bounty hunters like you two are secure enough in their masculinity to handle this." She managed to get out between giggles.

She had to bite her bottom lip to keep from laughing as the aforementioned big bad-assed bounty hunters slowly emerged from the bedroom. A half choking sound came out of Stephanie's mouth as she took in the sight before her. There in front of her stood the man of her dreams and his second in command, both with a white cloth draped around their bottoms like a huge diaper, with a pair of big white fluffy wings pinned to the back of their skin tight black T shirts. Tank picked up the tiny bow and arrow set that was leaning against the wall, holding it in front of him much like he was holding a rabid skunk, while Ranger leaned against the door frame scowling.

"I…uh….I'm. I'm just…" She couldn't help but break into another fit of giggles. Ranger glared at her and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Alright, alright. I got this. I am just…. _so….._ freakin' impressed that you two would do this to bring in the FTA. But, a black t-shirt? I don't think the last time I checked on Cupid's attire that black t-shirts were in the description." Not able to hold it together any longer, she started snickering into her hand.

Ranger actually sighed and rolled his eyes. "A necessary deviation, babe. Where else are the wings going to get pinned to?"

The FTA Stephanie was referring to was George Barnes. He was wanted for murder and assault, and would clear seven hundred thousand dollars for Rangeman. Barnes was known to be violent and always carried a gun on him. The original plan was to have Stephanie dress as Cupid to attend a single's Valentine's Day dance, catch the man's attention and lure him outside for the Merry Men to apprehend. Unfortunately, new intel came to light that Stephanie was not Barnes' type. Rather, Ranger was more his type. Ranger couldn't send in Lester as the distraction, since he was on light duty due to a broken leg. The plan was to have two people pose as a couple having a lover's spat, but none of his other men could be convinced to step up to the plate, so to speak.

"So, Ranger, where exactly are you going to hide your handcuffs and gun?" Steph asked, faking innocence while batting her eyes at him.

That brought a smug smirk to his face. "I told you, I don't need them to enslave a woman, and I'm betting the same would apply to this…..situation. Those arrow tips are actually little syringes filled with a special compound Hector called his Valentine's Day Special. He said it was a blend of a tranquilizer and truth serum. Tank will put them in the tranquilizer gun that will be waiting outside."

Stephanie frowned at that. "But, why use the truth serum? Wont the tranquilizer knock the guy out before he can confess?"

Ranger walked over to Steph and put his hands on her shoulders, leaning in to the point they were almost nose to nose, staring into each other's eyes. "That's the beauty of Hector's special blend," he said softly. "It causes temporary amnesia that disappears about 15 minutes after the tranquilizer wears off and the tranquilizer will wear off before the effects of the truth serum take effect. We'll have this guy's ass in custody and down at the precinct just in time for him to tell the right people exactly what he did, so they won't bond him out again."

Stephanie batted her eyes at him again. "Just as long as you get his ass before he gets yours, right?"

This caused Ranger to grimace and shudder at that thought. "Babe. There's only one ass that holds my attention and his isn't it."

Tank raised his eyebrows in amusement as he watched the heat and sparks shooting between his best friend and Steph. He almost shook his head as he wondered what it was going to take for the two of them to get their shit together and realize they loved each other, since every other person within fifty miles of them could see it. He had hoped that the original plan to have Steph dress in the Cupid outfit would spur Ranger into a fit of jealousy and make him step up and claim his woman, but that plan obviously wasn't going to happen now. Problem was, both were miserable when they weren't together, and made everyone else miserable without realizing it. Everybody was ready for this dancing around each other to stop.

Tank cleared his throat. "Little Girl, you gonna stand there laughing at us, or are you ready to get this show on the road?"

Ranger and Steph stepped apart with a jerk, looking away from each other. Girding his mental loins, Ranger adjusted his costume, and watched as Tank slung the quiver of arrows over his shoulder. He picked up his keys from the silver tray and scrambled the video feed from the cameras outside of the elevator. "Babe, let's just go and get this over."

 _-To Be Continued_ -


	2. Chapter 2

_Again, they're not mine but I sure wish they were._

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Stephanie was in position at a table toward the back of the club holding the Valentine's dance, with Hal as her 'date' for the evening. Bobby was behind the bar with Vince, Cal, and Ram waiting outside to nab their skip. Over everyone's earpieces came, "The skip has entered the room, headed to the bar now" followed by repeats of "noted' from all involved in the takedown. In spite of almost everyone in the club being dressed as either Cupid, Venus, or Adonis, all eyes were glued to the handsome Cuban man and the towering hulk of a black man sitting closely at a table close to the bar.

Steph's eyebrows shot up when she watched Tank casually reach over and cover Ranger's hand with his. She had to stifle a snort of laughter when she watched Ranger place his other hand over Tank's and give it a playful squeeze while winking back at him. _I hope to God that's play acting and not what Ranger would really do on a date_ crossed her mind.

Her earpiece was filled with guffaws and laugher from the guys. Steph closed her eyes and grimaced. "I said that out loud, huh? Crap."

Hal just shook his head and whispered "I don't think Ranger has to do much dating, Bomber, if you know what I mean." This made Steph roll her eyes and frown. She didn't want to think about Ranger dating anyone.

At that point she noticed that the FTA they were there for had steadfastly began watching the interaction between the two hulking cupids at the table. "Boys, you got his attention. I think it's show time," She whispered into her wire.

The plan went into play. Tank and Ranger leaned in toward each other as if whispering sweet nothings. They stood up and went to the dance floor. As planned, Tank's phone went off and he stopped and answered it.

You could hear his booming voice even without the ear pieces saying "Hey Baby." "Naw, I can't." "I'm busy, that's why." "Baby. I told you that. I'm not ready to settle down." "Well, maybe later tonight. I gotta go now." As the faked conversation evolved, Stephanie watched in awe as the man known for his blank face made his expressions morph from devotion to hurt and on to pissed off lover. As Tank hung up the phone, her jaw dropped as Ranger leaned in, angrily waving his arms around his head, then threw them in the air, yelling "I am SO done!" as he stomped off toward their FTA at the bar. She had to bite her bottom lip again to keep from laughing when Bobby's voice whispered over the communication unit "And the Emmy goes to….Carlos Manoso!"

Tank, left standing on the dance floor, looked over his shoulder and yelled toward Ranger "Fine. Find your own way home. I'm outta here." He stomped off and out the door, quickly getting into position to assist with the take down.

Like a moth to a flame, their skip made his way over to where Ranger sat at the bar, and sat next to him. His eyes were fixated on Ranger's costumed crotch, much to Ranger's chagrin. Mustering up the inner strength to get through this, he turned toward Barnes and gave him his hottest 200 watt smile. It took less than five minutes for Ranger to hook him and reel him in. According to the plan, Steph and Hal left the club and moved outside to assist with the take down when Ranger told their skip, "Looks like Cupid's arrow missed its mark tonight." However, that was when things deviated from the plan. Ten feet from the doorway, Stephanie's heel of her strapped-on pump wedged in between two pieces of concrete that formed the walkway to the entrance.

"I'm stuck, dammit!" she hissed to Hal. She tried in vain to pull her foot loose but it wouldn't budge.

"Slip it off Bomber. You have to get out of sight now. The boss and the skip are on their way out!" Hal whispered in a panic.

Inside the club, as Stephanie worked frantically to get unstuck outside, Ranger asked for a ride home, which Barnes quickly agreed to. Ranger got up, and forced himself not to retch as Barnes lightly ran his finger down Rangers chest, then motioned to go outside.

It was at this point that the plan went nothing like it was supposed to and things deteriorated quickly. Stephanie was bent over, frantically trying to unbuckle her shoe when Barnes, followed by Ranger, exited the club.

Tank, already in position with the loaded tranquilizer gun, sighted it on Barnes as he stopped to see what the curly haired brunette was struggling with in front of him. No one expected Stephanie's strap to snap and release her foot. This caused her to lurch back into Barnes with a loud "Oomph!" at the same time Tank fired the first tranquilizer shot. Instead of hitting Barnes, it caught Stephanie in her shoulder.

Tank's eyebrows shot up and yelled "Aw, Hell no! Bomber's going down! Bomber's going down!" He watch as Stephanie's eyes grew round with realization and then began to glass over as she sagged back into a shocked Barnes' arms. Before Barnes could react, Ranger lunged forward and grabbed Stephanie out of Barnes' arms, trying to find the dart and remove it. Barnes, now aware of the sea of black-garbed men surrounding him reached into his jacket.

Before he could pull anything out of his jacket, Tank rapidly fired two more tranquilizer darts, with one finding its home in Barnes' rear end. Hal made a leaping tackle and knocked whatever was in Barnes' hand out and away from them. By the time Hal had the skip's hands secured, Barnes was out like a light.

Tank and Hal, along with Vince and Ram loaded Barnes into the awaiting SUV, then watched as Cal drove off to deliver him to the police station. After a congratulatory round of back slaps and high fives, they went in search of their boss and Stephanie to see how she was faring. Walking around a parked Camry, Hal stopped abruptly and slowly turned toward Tank.

"Uh, Tank, how many darts did you fire tonight?"

Tank mentally counted. "Three. One that accidentally got Bomber and two into Barnes. Why?"

Hal rubbed his faced with his hand. "I only counted one in Barnes when I secured him, but I think I know where the other one landed." Then Hal pointed past the front fender of the car.

It was a good thing it was dark, so that the others couldn't see how pale Tank went when he saw what was in front of him. There lying on the parking lot with Steph still in his arms underneath him, was Ranger, laying on top of her with his white swaddled hind side up in the air, complete with the third dart stuck in his left cheek. Both were completely out cold.

Ram and Vince looked over Hal's shoulders, and both broke out in grins. Tank looked at the other three men. "The way I see it, we have about an hour before either wakes up. I have an idea how to turn this FUBAR'd situation into a real good thing." The four men huddled together as Tank cleared his throat. "Operation Cupid's Arrow is commencing soldiers. This is how it's gonna go down….."

 _tbc….._


	3. Chapter 3

_Not mine, but I sure do wish they were_. _Any mistakes are mine, and certainly not from my beta._ _Enjoy!_

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Someone was tickling Stephanie's nose. Rather than open her eyes to see who the culprit was, she swiped at her face trying to knock whatever it was away. She sighed with content, dreaming she was snuggled down in Ranger's wonderful bed sheets when something tickled her nose again. Giving up on falling back asleep, she opened her eyes to a wing full of fluffy white feathers. ' _What the Hell?'_ was the first thing that came to her fuzzy mind.

Just as she started to roll over toward the edge of the bed she was on, the feathered wing moved. She now found herself held in place by a large mocha –latte colored arm. She turned to face the owner of the arm and found herself staring into a pair of dark chocolate eyes.

"Babe. Am I dreaming? You're in my arms in my bed," Ranger rasped out. Stephanie stared at him in surprise. She felt those words tug at her heart strings and smiled at him. "No dream. I can't believe this is real either. Uh, how did we get here?"

Ranger closed his eyes to try to remember and drew a blank. The only thing that came to mind was his overwhelming need to claim this woman next to him. All of those well-crafted arguments he devised over the years to keep them from becoming more than friends now just felt like lies he just couldn't live anymore. "Stephanie. I don't know how we got here, but as I've told you before I'm an opportunist. I may have let you go before, even sent you back to the cop. But, for whatever reason, you're back in my bed, in my arms and I'm not letting you go again Babe."

A small part of Stephanie didn't want to believe him and wanted to run, hide, and deny how that made her feel. For the life of her, she just couldn't do that and had to admit what she kept hidden to herself for so long. The need to share this with Ranger was overwhelming. With a tremulous voice she whispered "I don't want you to let me go. This is where I want to be, here in your arms. Every night, every morning. But I'm afraid Ranger. I'm afraid that I won't be enough for you. I'm afraid you'll get tired of me and that would destroy me. I'm afraid I'm going to have to share you to have you. And I very much want to be the only person in your arms." Before she could stop, her darkest secret bubbled up and out. "I love you. I've loved you for a long, long time, but I have been so afraid of that." She quickly covered her mouth with her hand as her eyes grew round with surprise that had slipped out.

Ranger's face was awash with emotions that mirrored what was welling up in his chest. He pulled her close enough that their foreheads were almost touching. Gazing into her big blue eyes, he had to meet her truth with his own. "I love you Babe. To be honest, I was attracted to you from the start, but the love came out of nowhere when I got to know you. I wasn't planning on this – God knows it didn't fit in with my plans. I fought it for a long time, but now I just can't anymore. I can't stay sane without you in my life. I….I think I need you. I've never needed anybody before. Hell, I've never _loved_ anyone before you." He buried his face in the crook of her neck and breathed in deeply. He mumbled into her neck "You're it for me and have been for a while."

Stephanie pulled back and looked into his eyes. "And you're it for me. Joe and I haven't been together in over a year. So, I'm yours, and your mine and we don't share. I may be wrong here, but I think this sounds like the beginning of a commitment of sorts."

Ranger smirked. "There's no 'sorts' about it. I want you, all of you. And I will give you all of me, even the parts that aren't so nice. And we are exclusive, Babe. That's nonnegotiable. We can work the rest out."

Stephanie leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Ranger's lips to seal the deal. "So, that's all straightened out. Now, why are you dressed in a big diaper and have a bent set of feathered wings on your shirt?"

Ranger gave a little shrug. "Still no clue, Babe. What should we do about them?"

Stephanie grinned her version of a wolf grin back at the love of her life. "Hmmm. Well you remind me of a big bird with those wings. Want to get plucked?" She waggled her eyebrows at Ranger.

Ranger gave her the 200 watt smile back. "Oh yeah. Hope you're up to plucking all night long." He reached over and pulled her into a bone-melting kiss as white feathers started flying.

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Tank hit the control button that turned off the camera feed from his boss's bedroom. He picked up the feathered wing set that had been attached to the back of his black T-shirt and smoothed the feathers down. Sitting them down again, he typed out _Operation Cupid's Arrow a complete success on multiple levels._ Five minutes after hitting send, Hal poked his head in Tanks' office and said "How's it feel moonlighting as Cupid this year?"

Tank laughed, leaned back and put his feet up on his desk. "Ain't nothing but a thang, man. Cupid's gotta do what Cupid's gotta do."


End file.
